PITTBURGHOPERA page 1 For Immediate Release September 18, 2009 Contact: Kesha M. Pate, Public Relations Manager Office: (412) 281-0912 ext 248 Mobile: (412) 979-0912 [email protected] Pittsburgh Opera Presents Verdi’s Falstaff All the world’s a jest! What: Verdi’s opera Falstaff Where: Benedum Center for the Performing Arts 7th Street and Penn Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh Discover Yourself When: Saturday, October 24, 8:00 PM Tuesday, October 27, 7:00 PM 2009-2010 Friday, October 30, 8:00 PM Sunday, November 1, 2:00 PM Season Run Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes, including 2 intermissions Language: Sung in Italian with English texts projected above the stage Tickets: Start at $10. Call 412-456-6666 for more information or visit www.pittsburghopera.org Pittsburgh, PA… Pittsburgh Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi’s final masterpiece Falstaff at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts October 24 – November 1, 2009. This masterful comedy takes the audience on a delightful journey as the amorous pursuits of the bumbling old knight Sir John Falstaff are thwarted not once, but twice when he takes on the Merry Wives of Windsor in this Shakespearean classic. The production stars American baritone Mark Delavan, who is widely acclaimed as the quintessential Sir John Falstaff, Chilean soprano Veronica Villarroel, American baritone Stephen Powell, native Pittsburgher Kevin Glavin and a troupe worthy of any Elizabethan England theatre. Maestro Antony Walker will conduct. (more) 2425 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 www.pittsburghopera.org PITTBURGHOPERA page 2 Facts About The Opera and Composer Falstaff is an operatic commedia lyrica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, born in October of 1813, was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera, and is considered one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. Falstaff was Verdi's last opera, written when he was in his nineties. It is only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy and the third to be based on a Shakespearean play, following his earlier Macbeth and Otello. Verdi and Boito secretly began work on Falstaff in 1889. Verdi composed the entire first act in little more than a week, but distractions and personal losses kept him Discover Yourself preoccupied, postponing the completion of the opera until 1892. 2009-2010 Season The opera was first performed on February 9, 1893 at La Scala in Milan. Falstaff has long been a favorite because of its brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodic invention. Verdi's name literally translates into English as "Joseph Greens", as Verdi is the plural form of Green. Musical comedian Victor Borge often referred to the famous composer as "Joe Green", claiming Giuseppe Verdi was the composer’s "stage name". Patrick Redfern makes the same joke to Hercule Poirot in Evil Under the Sun, inadvertently giving Poirot the answer to the murder. Pittsburgh Opera first performed the opera in October 1977 and then again in March 2001. (more) 2425 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 www.pittsburghopera.org PITTBURGHOPERA page 3 The Story The story begins as Sir John Falstaff, seeking to better his fortunes, sits in the Garter Inn hatching a plan to woo wealthy matrons Alice Ford and Meg Page. He produces love letters to both women, hoping his friends Bardolfo and Pistola will help with his scheme and deliver the letters. The men refuse and Falstaff gives the letters to a page boy to deliver. In her garden, Alice and her daughter Nannetta chat with Meg and Mistress Quickly, soon discovering that Falstaff has sent identical letters. Outraged, the women, along with Ford, Caius, Fenton, Bardolfo and Pistola, pledge to take the fat knight down a peg or two. Back at the inn, Falstaff accepts Bardolfo and Pistola's feigned penitence for their mutiny and soon Mistress Quickly curtseys in to assure the knight that both Alice Ford and Meg Page return his ardor. Arranging a meeting with Alice, Falstaff rewards Quickly with a pittance and then, alone, preens. The next visitor is Master Ford, disguised as "Master Brook" and pretending an unrequited passion for Alice. Employed to break down the lady's virtue, Falstaff boasts that he already has set up a tryst and steps out to array himself. Discover Yourself 2009-2010 Ford, unable to believe his ears, vows to avenge his honor. Regaining his composure when Season Falstaff returns, he leaves arm in arm with the fat knight. In Ford's house, Quickly tells Alice and Meg about her visit with the knight at the inn. Nannetta does not share in the fun: her father has promised her to old Dr. Caius. The women reassure her before hiding, except for Alice, who sits strumming a lute as her fat suitor arrives. Recalling his salad days as a slender page, he is cut short when Quickly announces Meg's imminent approach. Falstaff leaps behind a screen, and Meg sails in to report that Ford is on his way over in a fury. Quickly confirms this, and while Ford and his men search the house, Falstaff takes refuge amid the dirty linen in a laundry basket. Slipping behind a screen, Nannetta and her young suitor Fenton attract attention with the sound of their kissing. While Meg and Quickly muffle Falstaff's cries for air, Ford sneaks up on the screen, knocks it over and berates the lovers as the chase continues upstairs. Alice orders servants to heave the basket into the Thames then leads her husband to the window to see Falstaff dumped into the muddy river. At sunset outside the inn, Falstaff bemoans his misadventure while downing a mug of warm wine. His reflections are halted by Quickly, who insists that Alice still loves him and proves it with a note appointing a midnight rendezvous in Windsor Park. Alice, Ford, Meg, Caius and Fenton sneak in as Falstaff enters the inn with Quickly, who tells him the gory tale of the Black Huntsman's Ghost, often seen in Windsor Park at midnight. Alice and the others take up the story, plotting to frighten Falstaff by dressing up as wood sprites. (more) 2425 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 www.pittsburghopera.org PITTBURGHOPERA page 4 In moonlit Windsor Forest, Fenton sings of love and receives a monk's costume for the masquerade; Nannetta is queen of the fairies, Meg a nymph and Quickly a witch. Everyone takes off as Falstaff lumbers in, dressed as a huntsman and wearing antlers. Scarcely has he greeted Alice than Meg warns of approaching demons. As the knight cowers, Nannetta calls the forest creatures to their revels. They torment Falstaff until he begs for mercy. When the conspirators unmask, Sir John takes it like a sport. Ford betroths Caius to the queen of the fairies (now Bardolfo in disguise) and unwittingly blesses Nannetta and Fenton. Ford too has been duped, but he can forgive as well, and Falstaff leads the company in declaring the world is but a jest. Falstaff opens Saturday, October 24 and continues October 27, 30 and November 1, 2009. For tickets starting at just $10, call 412-456-6666 or visit www.pittsburghopera.org. Media for this production is generously sponsored by 3WS. The Pittsburgh Opera 2009-2010 season is generously sponsored by PNC Foundation. Discover Yourself 2009-2010 Season Cast and Artistic Team (cast is listed in order of vocal appearance) Dr. Caius Joseph Gaines+ tenor Sir John Falstaff Mark Delavan baritone Bardolfo Doug Jones+ tenor Pistola Kevin Glavin** bass Meg Page Katherine Drago* mezzo-soprano Alice Ford Veronica Villarroel soprano Mistress Quickly Lindsay Ammann* mezzo-soprano Nannetta Shannon Kessler Dooley+* soprano Fenton James Flora+* tenor Ford Stephen Powell+ baritone + Pittsburgh Opera debut * Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist ** Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist alumni American baritone Mark Delavan returns to Pittsburgh Opera as the beloved glutton, Sir John Falstaff – a signature role for which he enjoys wide acclaim. Mr. Delavan first performed with Pittsburgh Opera as Figaro in the 2000 production of The Marriage of Figaro. His repertoire spans over 40 roles, including the title roles of Falstaff, Rigoletto, (more) 2425 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 www.pittsburghopera.org PITTBURGHOPERA page 5 Der Fliegende Holländer, Gianni Schicchi, Simon Boccanegra and Sweeney Todd, as well as such signature roles as Iago, Gerard, Scarpia, Jochanaan, Germont and Amonasro. His most recent performances include Jochanaan in Salome at the Gran Teatre del Licieu; The Dutchman in Der Fliegende Holländer with Atlanta Opera; Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci, both with Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Tomsky in Pique Dame with The Metropolitan Opera. Chilean-born soprano Veronica Villarroel returns to Pittsburgh Opera having debuted with the Company in the title role of Madama Butterfly in 2007. She has enjoyed wide acclaim in opera houses around the world for her performances in roles such as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Liù in Turandot, Mimi in La bohème and Violetta in La traviata. Ms. Villarroel’s recent performances include Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with San Antonio Opera, Alice in Falstaff with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Verdi’s Requiem with the Orchestra Sinfonica del Valles in Spain and a concert with Placido Domingo at the Teatro Municpal de Santiago. Performing the role of Ford, American baritone Stephen Powell makes his Pittsburgh Opera Discover Yourself debut. Mr. Powell’s repertoire includes the title roles in Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni and 2009-2010 Season Sweeney Todd, as well as the roles of Ping in Turandot, Shchelkalov in Boris Godunov, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Escamillo in Carmen, Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La bohème, Valentin in Faust, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte.